The giveaway collection includes works that we love to share because of our own connections to the story as well as works we’d love to get. Just like Monstress, the first volume of Locke and Key is one I’ve been meaning to read.
Ancient evils, demon possession, locksmithing… what’s not to like?
Unlike Saga, this has been made into a TV series, so I suppose I could check that out first. I mean, it’s been working out for The Expanse.
The giveaway collection includes works that we love to share because of our own connections to the story as well as works we’d love to get. Monstress is in the latter category.
Just like Saga, this has been recommended to me. Unlike Saga, I haven’t had a chance to read it… yet. But I continue to hear nothing but good thing’s about Marjorie Liu’s writing – and the prospect for more epic world-building is always welcome.
Part of the prize collection is the first volume of the one of my favorite recent comics/graphic novels: Saga.
The star-crossed heroes are imperfect, the world-building is purposeful and intricate, and I absolutely love the art of Fiona Staples. It’s an epic and often bloody space opera/fantasy that was first introduced to me at my Friendly Local Comic Shop (which has since closed its doors). Come for the action and irreverance. Stay for the compelling characters!
In an instance I suspect is far from rare, I stumbled onto Neil Gaiman when I borrowed some of my brother’s Sandman comics… and then I kept following what he was doing which, as many of you know, has branched out to just about every storytelling medium from comics to TV to film to audio drama.
If you’ve enjoyed Gaiman’s work, you’ll probably have noted how much he loves to delve into the history and lore of behind whatever type of story he’s telling. You get the sense, from his writing, that his childhood –like many of ours– had the library as a focal point. It’s something that he himself has confirmed in interviews.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane takes a premise of a man returning to his home town for a funeral — something we feel we’ve seen in many a story — and then gives it some fantastical, magic realist twists, sprinkled with events inspired by the author’s own life. It’s a captivating read and, if you haven’t read it before, I think you’ll find it a page turner, especially if you’ve enjoyed Gaiman’s other works.
One of the enjoyable aspects of the show –something I understand is in the books as well– is the relatively “hard” sci-fi setting. Ships have to worry about gravity and the lack thereof. There are no ray guns, hyperdrives, or teleporters. Sure, there’s that pesky, physics-defying protomolecule and related shenanigans, but Arthur C. Clarke has your back.
In the realm of hard sci-fi in the very near future, we also have The Martian, which scratched that “science the science” itch I sometime have. It’s kind of like Clarke’s zeal for plausible science matched with Tom Clancy’s zeal for researching technical specifications (as readers of The Hunt for Red October may recall).
The movie’s nice too, but there’s something wonderfully detailed about the novel that makes it a fun page-turner.
I mentioned on Thursday that part of the fun is getting to share some of the stories you love, but another aspect is including stuff you’d like to win.
I happen to love the TV series and am sad to hear we only get only one more season (as of this writing), so one of the things I plan to do once the TV series ends is revisit the story again in novel form. Past experience has taught me to enjoy the story in one medium at a time.
By all the accounts I’ve seen, people are quite happy with the TV adaptation, although they have moved characters and timelines around a bit to keep the ensemble cast relevant to the story. However, it sounds like there’s a lot deeper dives into the characters as you are able to do with a novel. I’d say “I can’t wait,” but obviously I can. There’s no reason you have to though.
Part of the fun is talking with the other creators about what books to include. We all want to weigh in with books that we’ve loved and love to share.
Octavia Butler is one of those authors I love to share. Not unlike a lot of other Gen Xers, I absolutely filled up with stories from Asimov, Bradbury, and Clarke in my youth. And I’d sometimes suggest Bester as an alternate ‘B’ (so I laughed out loud when that joke was made on The Simpsons).
I would absolutely suggest Octavia Butler not only as another ‘B,’ but another author to check out if you haven’t already before. The first novel of hers I read, Wild Seed, was a centuries-spanning epic that I still think about. Next I tackled the Xenogenesis trilogy, and then Parable of the Sower which is part of prize package we have for this giveaway.
Butler’s protagonists are complex, imperfect, and driven in a very human way. The ideas about self and other and the worldbuilding can be dizzying at times, but always truthful.
For Parable of the Sower, readers might find it more than a bit timely. Written in the early 90s, it’s actually set in a 2020s full of climate crisis, wealth inequality, and corporate greed. This is the graphic novel version I hope to tempt my kids with at the right age. Perhaps you know of someone who’d like to check it out as well.
Spring is in the air and summer reading is fast behind, so –as with previous years– we’re joining with a host of other awesome indie creators in bringing you a giveaway of $300 worth of some of our favorite sci-fi and fantasy books.
We’ll be posting about some of our picks in the days ahead, but don’t wait to sign up for the giveaway! It ends Friday, March 19th!
Amazingly, this isn’t our whole cast from our virtual table readings in January
After plenty of time spent casting in the Fall, we returned from the holidays getting ready to product the second full season of Quorum (the first season and an ‘interlude’ are available to listen to already if you want to catch up).
The Gambler’s Tale: All That Glitters picks up with poker player and ad-hoc sleuth Jimmy Harmon almost a year later and in a new city, Los Angeles. While the city and its dangers might be new, you’ll find the mayhem and cliffhangers are what you’ve come to expect.
We have a cast of 28 actors voicing about 56 roles through a labyrinthine story that spans 10 episodes (just like season one). The picture above is from our virtual table read, which took two sessions considering it’s over 200 pages of script. That was late January.
Now we’re going through the slow, but steady process of recording each of those 28 actors. It’s a change from our usual style of gathering everyone together, but COVID demands we take those precautions — and we’ve been excited about the performances we’ve captured already.
Look for the next season of Quorum this Fall on WERA-LP 96.7 FM and on fine podcatchers everywhere.
